Robert M. Sapolsky biography

Robert M. Sapolsky

Robert M. Sapolsky Biography

Robert M. Sapolsky is a professor of biology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery at Stanford University, researcher and author. He has authored several works of nonfiction, including A Primate's Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. He is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya. He lives in San Francisco.

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Interview

An Interview with Dr. Robert Sapolsky

In the book you touch on some of the cultural and societal changes you have
witnessed in your over twenty years of summers in Africa. What aspect of bush
life has changed the most during the years you've spent there? What the least?
I am taking "bush life" to mean Masai life, rather than that of
the more westernized, agricultural tribes. Probably most broadly, there has been
one big shift; when I got there, ambition, hope for one's kids, goals were built
around being a more successful Masai -- figuring out a way to have more cows,
more wives, more children. And what has shifted is that ambition now takes the
form of wanting outside things: a watch, a pair of pants, a cassette player or
even of wanting to be someone else (without having much of a sense of what
anyone else's life is like). The Masai have realized that they are not the
center of the universe, and thus not even of the Masai universe. In terms of
what has changed the least, I keep thinking of the phrase, "Despite the new
goals, the Masai still go about trying to achieve them with the same Masai rules
and values." But I'm having trouble sorting out what exactly I mean by
that.

Readalikes

All the books below are recommended as readalikes for Robert M. Sapolsky but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose readalikes

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